Good morning all, we’re starting off with some terrible news…
Godsmack has been forced to postpone its previously announced European tour following the unexpected death of guitarist Tony Rombola‘s son. Frontman Sully Erna wrote in a statement, “With my deepest regrets, and on behalf of our guitarist Tony and his wife Sue, I am personally writing this message to all of our fans worldwide to inform you that Tony and his family have suffered a loss that no parent should ever have to endure.”
Erna continued, “Tony and Sue’s son Joe Fay passed away last week, unexpectedly, at the young age of 34. He was one of the kindest and most humble guys I had ever met. And most importantly, he was a FAN. Just like all of you. He literally lived the success of Godsmack through his dad. He was always so excited and proud just to be around all of us, and we will all miss him deeply.”
The singer added, “As we await more information on how this happened, we humbly ask that you respect Tony and his family’s privacy as they take time to process this and heal. We appreciate all of your patience, prayers and support in this very trying time. And I promise you, we ARE coming back bigger and stronger in the beginning of 2019, and we WILL honor all of these tour dates in Europe and across this globe.”
The month of European dates was set to kick off on October 29th in Stockholm, Sweden. These dates will now take place in early 2019, details of which will be announced soon. Godsmack played the final show of its summer North American tour last Saturday, October 13th at the Aftershock Festival in California.
Ghost has shared a new music video for the song “Dance Macabre” the next single from the band’s Prequelle album. The clip follows two party crashers who talk their way into a surreal bash that one will never remember and one will never forget.
The track recounts how some people coped with the devastation of 14th century Europe’s Black Plague, which wiped out millions, by dancing and partying and seducing until they dropped. The song already has 15 million Spotify streams and follows up the chart-topping “Rats.”
“Rats” held the Number One spot at rock radio for nine consecutive weeks.
Ghost recently sold out the very prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London, and will support Metallica on that band’s European stadium tour next summer. But first Ghost will headline its two-act “A Pale Tour Named Death” fall North American trek, which starts in Dallas on October 25th.
In other Ghost news, a lawsuit filed by four former members of GHOST against the band’s leader has been dismissed by a Swedish court.
Tobias Forge, who founded the group eight years ago, was sued by four ex-members in April 2017 who accused the singer of cheating them out of their rightful share of the profits from the band’s album releases and world tours. As a result, Forge was forced to reveal his identity after years of performing in a mask as Papa Emeritus.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the district court of Linköping, where GHOST was originally based, claimed that a partnership agreement existed between Forge and the four former members, all of whom performed anonymously in the band as Nameless Ghouls.
Forge responded that “no legal partnership” ever existed between him and the other members, that they were paid a fixed salary to perform as his backing band, and that they were essentially session musicians.
The trial in Linköping District Court lasted for six days, and at 11 a.m. on Wednesday (October 17), a 108-page decision was released dismissing the case. The four former GHOST members were also ordered to pay Forge‘s legal fees.
Forge claimed more than two million kronor (approximately $225,000) in legal costs, but the district court was of the opinion that 1.3 million kronor ($146,000) was more reasonable.
The original lawsuit claimed that Forge solely controlled the band’s business affairs without input from anyone else in the group. The four musicians furthermore stated that a partnership agreement existed between them and Forge which put Tobias in charge of carrying out the company’s management duties.
In a statement explaining the lawsuit, the musicians officially revealed their identities as Simon Söderberg (Alpha; member of GHOST from 2010 until 2016), Mauro Rubino (Air; member of GHOST from 2011 until 2016), Henrik Palm (Eather; member of GHOST from 2015 until 2016) and Martin Hjertstedt (Earth; member of GHOST from 2014 until 2016).
The four ex-members claimed that between the years of 2010 and 2016, Forge never told them that he viewed GHOST as a one-man business and solo project. “To the contrary, Tobias Forge has always emphasized that it was a collaboration that everyone was involved in and would share in the profit of once the business became profitable,” they wrote. “The first time Tobias Forge, through the band’s management, mentioned that he saw them as hired musicians rather than full-fledged members of GHOST was in the context of a contract proposal presented in April 2016.” This proposal was later rejected.
Forge said in an interview earlier this year that his legal battle with the band’s former members was validation that he “must be doing something right.” He told The Guardian about the dispute: “With hindsight, I think the reveal didn’t really damage the band as negatively as the intention behind it [the lawsuit]. I had to go through a little bit of surgery when it came to my social life.”
He continued: “A lot of the decisions that I made were based on trying to accommodate people’s wishes, trying to be a friend and set them up for life. That intention seems to have been turned into me trying to fuck people over. That feels like a betrayal because this was not done out of spite at all.”
Despite the legal action from his former friends, Forge was philosophical. “I took it almost as an acknowledgment that I must be doing something right,” he said. “If things were going down the fucking tubes, no one would care.” (Original story at Blabbermouth!)
Excited to announce the 30th Annual #XmasJam taking place Dec. 7+8 @USCellular in Asheville, NC. This year ft Dave Grohl & friends play “PLAY” @EricChurch @GovtMuleBand @GracePotter @JameyJohnson @JimJames @JBonamassa @MarcoBenevento and Mike Gordon! https://t.co/a8CLxasZ4w pic.twitter.com/ic2cXXJnMa
— The X-Mas Jam (@xmasjam) October 16, 2018
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl will debut his innovative 23-minute song “Play” as a live performance piece with “friends” on December 8th at Warren Haynes Presents: Christmas Jam 30. The event takes place at US Cellular Center in Asheville, North Carolina and will also feature appearances from Eric Church, Gov’t Mule, Jim James, Joe Bonamassa and others.
“Play” was first unveiled last August in a two-part documentary of the same name that ended with Grohl performing the song on seven different instruments. Grohl created the project to showcase “the rewards and challenges of dedicating ones life to playing and mastering a musical instrument.”
Grohl performed the entire piece on one instrument at a time and then merged the videos of each to create a seven-piece one-man band. The first part of Play focused on the behind-the-scenes preparation for the performance, which was unveiled in the second part. The film was also intercut with young musicians from the Join The Band music school in the San Fernando Valley practicing their craft.
Grohl said, “Watching my kids start to play music and learn to sing or play drums, it brings me back to the time when I was their age listening to albums, learning from listening . . . and when I take my kids to the place where they take their lessons, I see these rooms full of children that are really pushing themselves to figure this out.”
Proceeds from Christmas Jam, which will also feature performances on December 7th, will benefit the Asheville Area Habitat For Humanity.
Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell has signed a worldwide record deal with BMG to release his new solo album, Kind Heaven, in early 2019. The LP will serve as a musical scene-setter for his immersive entertainment destination, also called Kind Heaven, which is set to open at The LINQ Promenade in Las Vegas next year.
Kind Heaven will be Farrell’s first solo album since 2001. Guests slated to appear on the disc include Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, one-time Pearl Jam drummer Matt Chamberlain, Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, Motley Crue stickman Tommy Lee, Porno For Pyros guitarist Peter DiStefano and more.
Farrell said, “Every concept I’ve ever had began with music as its bedrock: Jane’s Addiction, Lollapalooza and now Kind Heaven. I am energized by my partnership with BMG and their commitment to my music, and to powering it with state-of-the-art technology.”
Ahead of the album release, Farrell will debut the music live with a new band at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on December 2nd, headlining the “Festival Of Lights” benefit in support of the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation.
Finally, we’d like to wish a Happy Birthday to Motionless In White frontman Chris Motionless! Have a great day!
